The Greatest Christmas Song: King of Angels
This week we’ll take a look at the first verse and chorus of the song I chose as the greatest Christmas song of all time. So here it is:
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
This song starts out as a call to worship. It doesn’t call everyone, but it does call Christians, describing them as faithful, joyful, and triumphant.
This might seem a little self-centred, but very quickly the song gets to the reason for the adjectives.
Faithful: This reminds me of Psalm 31:23 – Love the LORD, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
Faithful is, of course, full of faith – and the rest of the song outlines what our confidence is in.
Joyful: David wrote “My mouth will praise you with joyful lips!” (Psalm 63:5) Joy is, of course, a keyword for Christmas, although many today try to get their joy from temporary things.
But in the Bible, it was the angel who said to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy!” (Luke 2:10) Mary was joyful in God her Saviour (Luke 1:46-47). The Magi who were joyful when they saw the star (Matthew 2:10). Even an unborn baby was jumping for joy (Luke 1:43-44)! Why joyful? Because God was bringing salvation.
Triumphant: It may not be PC today, but triumph implies triumph over something or someone. A common theme in the Psalms is triumph over enemies. The Apostle Paul would agree with this idea – in spite of opposition, God still takes us where He wants us to go – in triumph (2 Corinthians 2:14). But it is Jesus Himself who ultimately triumphed over the enemy (Colossians 2:13-15). So we triumph in Him.
And so we are called to open the Scriptures and see what happened there in Bethlehem. As we read, we discover one “born the king of angels”.
This poor Jewish baby was the king of angels? Well, Mary knew before He was born that He was an eternal king (Luke 1:31-33). More than that, one of Jesus’ titles was Emmanuel, or “God with us” (Matthew 1:23)!
It is really the book of Hebrews that nails this truth. In Hebrews 1, God the Father calls on the angels to worship the Son (Hebrews 1:6). The Son is identified as God, the eternal Creator of heaven and earth (Hebrews 1:8-12).
Jesus did not become “the Lord” when He was born – He already was. His eternal being as God meant that He was born already a king. As the line goes in Silent Night – Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.
So, then comes the continued call to worship – O come, let us adore Him.
Adore is a word that comes from two Latin words, meaning to speak or pray to. In other words, we come to Jesus as God. As the angels worship Him, so should we.
What are your “adoration” plans this Christmas? Are you taking the time to stop, go to Bethlehem (in the Scriptures, probably not in person!), and be amazed by what you see there?
We come in joy and triumph because somehow God triumphed by becoming a tiny baby. God came to be with us. He “pitched his tent” in our camp (John 1:14). And He came not to destroy us as sinners, but to save us from sin.
Take time to wonder. And we’ll get back to the song next week.